Creativity Connecting People: Reflections on the Creative Ireland Shared Island Conference

The Creative Ireland Shared Island Conference

The Creative Ireland Shared Island Conference took place last week in Croke Park, bringing together artists, educators, community leaders and policymakers from across the island. What stood out most was the sense of shared purpose. This was not simply a showcase of projects but a gathering rooted in the belief that creativity can help build trust, understanding and new relationships.

The Creative Ireland Shared Island Conference

The tone was set early by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who spoke about creativity as a practical tool for reconciliation and increased wellbeing. He described it as a way of finding “words and ways to express and explore our differences and create a common ground” and of imagining a future “that is different to our past.” It was a reminder that creativity is not a luxury. It is a way of opening up conversations that might otherwise stay closed. Using creative ways to open conversations around dying, death and grief is the overarching aim of the project Art of Life.   

A day centred on connection

Throughout the day, the focus was firmly on people and their experiences. Forty seven Shared Island projects were highlighted, ranging from craft initiatives to youth arts programmes. Many of these have brought together groups who had never met before, and in some cases had never even crossed the border.

One project shared by the Taoiseach involved women from Ballinasloe, Belfast, Ennis and Inishbofin. Several participants spoke about initial fears, uncertainty and the barriers they carried with them. By the end, they described those barriers “reducing” and talked about the bonds they had formed. Stories like this appeared again and again throughout the conference and offered a powerful sense of what cross-border creativity can achieve.

Understanding the real impact

Compassionate Communities NI has been delighted to work alongside Cavan County Council on the Art of Life project since 2024. Together, we’ve seen how creativity can bring people closer, spark meaningful conversations, and help communities feel more supported around end-of-life experiences.

A recent independent evaluation by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland shared powerful feedback — participants spoke about the deep emotional connection they felt during the workshops, and the artists themselves described the project as having a profound impact on their own growth, both personally and professionally.

To read the full evaluation, Evaluation of Social Value of the ‘Art of Life’ Project: A Stakeholder-Informed Theory of Change Development, please click here.

The wider Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme evaluation, published this year, echoed similar themes. It recognised the challenges of building relationships across different communities and systems but also highlighted the rewards. As one project organiser put it, “Building respect and trust with communities is a slow process and should not be rushed.” The report makes clear that when this time is taken, the results can be transformative.

Looking to the future

A significant announcement at the conference was the new Shared Home Place programme. This will explore what home and heritage mean in different communities across the island. Drawing on local histories, traditions and identities, it will encourage people to share how they understand their own place and how those stories connect or diverge. It feels like a natural next step for the Shared Island initiative, grounding reconciliation in lived experience rather than abstract ideas.

Why this matters

What emerged from the conference was a simple but powerful message. Creativity can do things that policy alone cannot. At the end of life, we are reminded that dying, death and bereavement do not recognise borders. They cut across political lines, religious identities and cultural differences, reminding us of our shared humanity. Creativity gives people ways to meet, talk, collaborate and imagine something new together in this common space.

It offers room for play, for experimentation and for seeing familiar issues from a different angle. In a landscape that can often feel tense or divided, these moments of honest connection - rooted in what we all share as human beings - truly matter.

The Shared Island Conference showed that cultural investment can have real social impact, and that those impacts can ripple far beyond individual projects. When people come together through creativity, new possibilities open up. As the Taoiseach suggested, it allows us to imagine a brighter and more connected future for everyone who calls this island home.

As a partner in the Art of Life project, we have been deeply moved by the way creative expression can open doors that words alone often cannot. Through art, music, writing, and shared reflection, we have witnessed people gently lower their guard, find their voice, and speak about end of life with honesty, courage, and compassion. Creativity has a remarkable ability to soften fear, dissolve long-held barriers, and help us connect with one another in ways that feel human, tender, and profoundly meaningful.